Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Average Los Angeles Resident Could Add Eights Months Of Life If Air Quality Was Improved

A new study looks at the health toll poor air quality is taking on Californians just as the state is blanketed with smoke from the wild fires.

Sacramento Bee:
Study Says Smog Is Taking Years Off People’s Lives
People could add years to their lives in California and other smog-plagued parts of the world if authorities could reduce particulate pollution — soot from cars and industry — to levels recommended by the World Health Organization, a new study reported Monday. No other large U.S. city would benefit more than Fresno, which has soot concentrations at roughly twice the WHO guidelines. Fresno residents would live a year longer if the region could meet the health organization’s recommended levels of exposure, according to Monday’s study by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. (Leavenworth, 11/19)

Stat:
Air Pollution Exposure During Pregnancy Linked To Autism Diagnosis
Two new studies suggest that rising autism rates might be connected at least in part to air pollution from traffic. They are not the first to show a link between exposure to pollutants during pregnancy and the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. But both studies look at large populations and find a link with relatively low levels of pollutants. In a study of 132,256 births in Vancouver, Canada, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers detected an association between exposure to roadway pollution in utero and later diagnosis with autism. The study’s strengths were its large size and its method of diagnosing autism, which can be inconsistent. (Weintraub, 11/19)

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